Golgo 13 - badass on the outside

But terribly boring. You'd think that they'd be able to make an anime series about a fictional assassin by a mangaka who has been churning out new installments since 1968 a bit more exciting. I mean, sure, taking out an airplane hijacker with a single shot is pretty impressive, but this is the first episode, after all, and failure just ain't in the cards. The primary pleasure, then, is the route by which you're escorted to that anticipated finale—and that felt terribly perfunctory.

The anime doesn't seem to feel particularly comfortable in its own skin, as it were. The washed-out palette is quite modern and did not mesh well with old-school gekiga conventions. The “Even Prostitutes Kneel to the Power of My Penis!” sex scene felt like a last-minute addition rammed into the middle of the episode; I think Golgo spent more screen time talking shop with the gun maker than lying stone-faced in bed while the woman did all the work. Heck, even his trademark bushy brows were blurry! Now that's insane. I doubt either fans or newcomers will be much impressed.